Today, Mdm A talked about the plight of people in LDCs (less developed countries). It is true how nowadays, people from DCs just focus on getting the best bargains from the poor labourers there. Whenever I go somewhere like China or Thailand, haggling is key. However, I'm not saying that haggling is bad. While the goods in such countries are cheaper than those on our shelves, most of them are greatly over-priced. Hence, it's ok to bargain a bit, but just not to the extent of squeezing out every cent from the poor seller.

I didn't exactly gain any new insights from today's lesson, but it reminded me of my holiday to Hoi An, Vietnam last year (try reading archive June 2008). I don't think i recorded this incident.

We were walking around the Hoi An town area, where most of the people living there brought their goods to sell. The products were mostly handicrafts and other cheaply-manufactured goods. We walked around and decided to buy some stuff. I was very interested in the haggling thing but of course, my unsociable self didn't allow me to communicate with the stall holder. I got dad to help me bargain because the toy I was looking at was definitely over-priced. As usual, his attempt was successful. When I converted the price to S$, it was worth the cheapest ice cream you could find here.

After a while, I asked him if the price he got the toy for was worth it. He replied that it wasn't, and what we paid was much more. After all, it was just made of wood and painted by hand. I continued asking him why he didn't bring the price all the way down when he definitely had the skill to. He finally gave me another of his moral education lectures. That day, I learnt that other people also needed to eat. So what if we could have saved a few cents from that purchase? We didn't get any poorer. Giving the lady selling the product that extra few cents could make a difference between having food security the next day or the lack of it. Evidently, I was quite oblivious to the less fortunate people around me.

To all Singaporeans, yea, it's alright to bargain, but just don't go overboard.

Tomorrow's the hc audition. I was busy debating with myself whether to drop out of it or not. If I were to go, I'd only be wasting my time and would probably end up embarrassing myself and my school. If I don't fall sick tomorrow, I'll go, and try to have fun while at it.